For the last few days, the pro-Telugu Desam Party media houses, besides some national newspapers have been churning out reports of a possible return of the party into the fold of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
The interaction of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a handshake in New Delhi early August and the meeting of Union home minister Amit Shah with Naidu’s godfather Ramoji Rao at Ramoji Film City has fuelled these speculations.
Some media houses even reported that Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh also had a secret meeting with Amit Shah, triggering further speculations over a possible alliance between the TDP and the BJP again.
Amidst these reports, some journalists directly asked Naidu about the speculations over the return of the TDP to the NDA. The TDP president, interestingly, did not deny these media reports but tried to parry the answer.
“Those who are campaigning that the TDP is going to join the NDA should themselves answer this question. I don’t want to speak on the speculations,” he said, without saying what is there in there in his mind.
He, however, said the TDP had come out of the NDA in 2018 only in the interests of the state.
“We take any decision in politics only in the interest of the state,” the TDP chief said.
He said the TDP had suffered political setbacks twice in the past only because he had focussed more on administration than on the party.
“I was striving to bring good name to Andhra Pradesh and in the process, could not concentrate on the party. As a result, I had to face personal losses,” he said.
Naidu strongly rebutted the campaign of the YSR Congress party that if the TDP comes to power, the welfare schemes would be stopped.
“Even when we were in power, we implemented welfare schemes. If we come back to power, we shall implement the welfare schemes in a much better way,” he asserted.